On October 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) efforts to protect victims of pornography.
In his opening statement, Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) cited an ABC Primetime Thursday story in which Diane Sawyer stated that the pornography industry is worth an estimated $10 billion, an amount larger than the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball combined. Sen. Hatch argued that the victims of pornography “are not just addicts and rape victims but young, innocent teenagers, who go to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a movie star and instead get caught up in this sordid industry.”
Mary Beth Buchanan, a U.S. Attorney in Pennsylvania who often works on cases involving the sexual exploitation of children, told of a letter she received from a woman whose daughter had participated in the production of pornographic films. Although her daughter had graduated from a good quality high school, she was now anorexic and a drug addict. The woman asked Ms. Buchanan to continue to work to “prevent the exploitation and destruction of other young women.”
Although much of the hearing focused on child victims of pornography, witnesses testified that older women are exploited as well. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm stated that the pornographic images “promoted the idea of sex without consequences, such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases. The victims, usually women, are objectified and demeaned, presented as completely non-discriminating with respect to the number or type of sexual partners they have and as being aroused and gratified by being beaten, tortured, or raped.” He went on to add, “The negative, lasting impact that this has on the participants who are in these images, and on the attitudes that are formed by the predominately male viewers who see them is incalculable.”
All of the witnesses agreed that the Internet has created a larger demand for pornography and has made it more accessible to a younger audience. Testifying on behalf of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Lawrence Maxwell noted, “Numerous pornographers have intentionally acquired seemingly harmless Internet domain names that are especially likely to invite children. They have also acquired domain addresses similar to popular mainstream Web sites in an intentional effort to snare individuals who mistype Internet addresses.” Mr. Malcolm agreed and stated, “It has been estimated that ninety percent of children between the ages of 8 and 16 have been exposed to obscene material on the Internet.”
The Internet also makes obscenity and child pornography offenses more difficult to prosecute. Robert Flores of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention explained that “conventional definitions of jurisdiction are practically meaningless in the electronic universe of cyberspace, and very few investigations begin and end within the same jurisdiction. Because they involve multiple jurisdictions, most investigations require close coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.”
